GRUMPY OLD MEN (THE KOMINSKY METHOD - SEASON ONE)

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Chuck Lorre's 'The Kominsky Method' is not the first sitcom about a couple of grumpy old men.

However, with Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin playing the two old codgers at the heart of it, it might be the starriest.

Netflix's eight part series casts Douglas as Sandy Kominsky, an actor who runs an acting school in LA with his daughter, Sarah Baker's Mindy.

Sandy has not quite achieved superstardom but is moderately successful.


He is also deluded enough to believe he has great wisdom to impart about the profession.

His best friend is Arkin's brusque showbiz agent, Norman Newlander whose wife, Susan Sullivan's Eileen passes away in the first episode after a battle with cancer.

Eileen continues to appear to Norman after her death and guide him through life but his loud conversations with a wife that no longer appears to other people makes them believe he is losing his marbles.

Over the course of the season, Sandy and Norman comply with Eileen's requests for a very starry, upbeat funeral service, they deal with the unexpected arrival of Norman's estranged prescription drug addicted daughter Lisa Edelstein's Phoebe, handle concerns about Sandy's health by going to Danny de Vito's urologist Dr Wexler, listen to an Elliott Gould pitch for a sitcom, undertake a road trip and fall out briefly over a tax bill.


Sandy gets romantically involved with an older student in his evening class with an obnoxious son, Nancy Travis's recent divorcee Lisa.

Norman struggles with grief.

Scripted mostly by Lorre who has created and produced sitcoms like 'Grace Under Fire', 'Cybill', 'Dharma and Greg', 'Two and a Half Men', 'The Big Bang Theory', 'Mike and Molly', 'Mom' and 'Young Sheldon', 'The Kominsky Method' relies heavily on the chemistry between Douglas and Arkin to navigate darker themes. 

Douglas and Arkin are a joy to watch as their characters bicker, wind each other up and support each other through the tough times - bonding over an extra dry Martini and Sandy's favourite tipple, Jack Daniels with a Diet Dr Pepper, served by Ramon Hilario's shaky, elderly waiter at Norman's favourite grill.


Their prickly, yet tender friendship is one of the sweetest things about Lorre's sitcom which knows when to dial up and down its sentimentality.

While 'The Kominsky Method' pokes fun at the rigours of old age, it affectionately lampoons the acting profession as well, as Sandy nurses a fragile ego and his vanity while promoting himself as a guru to wannabe actors like Graham Rogers' confident Jude, Melissa Tang's Margaret, Jenna Lung Adams' Darshani and Casey Thomas Brown's Lane.

Sandy may appear reasonably successful with his acting school but his personal life is a bit of a disaster zone.

Married three times, he is as dreadful at dating Lisa as he is at handling his personal finances and he also falls out briefly with Norman over the settling of his IRS bill.


While Douglas captures Sandy's stubborn refusal to surrender to his ailments and the prejudices about his advancing years, Arkin adopts Larry David's react first, think later approach from 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'.

Norman has no volume control and very little emotional intelligence and in many ways, he is the show's greatest strength.

Travis makes a great romantic foil for Douglas and Baker brings a lot of heart to the role of Mindy.

Edelstein also shines as the very flaky Phoebe - an episode where Sandy and Norman take her to rehab delivers some of the debut season's best laughs  - while Sullivan amuses as Eileen who serves as Norman's voice of conscience.


There are well judged guest appearances too from de Vito, Gould, Jay Leno and Patti La Belle that are not there simply to sprinkle some added stardust to proceedings but which actually serve a purpose.

'The Kominsky Method' is a well judged, beautifully acted sitcom about baby boomers facing their mortality that regularly hits its targets.

Smartly directed by Lorre, Andy Tennant, Donald Petrie and Beth McCarthy Miller, the first season turns to be an enjoyably bumpy ride.

Buckle up for a second season.

(Season one of 'The Kominsky Method' was made available for streaming on Netflix from November 16, 2018)





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